Archive for Kids

Are those fun-sized candy bars, if you just finished eating 27? I appreciate my friend, Ken Price, saying that his abs are so awesome that he had to grow a layer of fat over them to keep from getting someone hurt. Hahahahaha!

I just wrote those random sentences because they remind me of the hypothetical commencement speech of Mary Schmich, which was published in June of 1997 to the supposed class of 1999.

It has been called the “Wear Sunscreen” speech and was set to music and released as a “Spoken Word Song” by Baz Luhrmann. Ultimately, the author says that the most important thing… wear sunscreen! Pretty good advice.

Today, I attached this 5 minute version in the blog, in case you wanted some advice on life from this speech, and just feel like relaxing instead of reading. So here it is:

Maybe it is “advice like youth, probably just wasted on the young”, but wouldn’t it be great if we could worry less and be thankful for more. (That’s my thought)

Because of scheduling, I didn’t get to the blog yesterday morning. We did finish up the April eBlast and we will be sending and posting it shortly.

For today’s brief blog, I wanted to reference an article dealing with a baby’s pain that is relevant to our practice and also will serve as something to question doctors about in the future. From DailyMail.com comes a report that relates to what a baby feels.

Here are the highlights:

Young babies are more sensitive to pain than adults, according to study

Doctors previously assumed very young babies had high pain threshold

New findings by Oxford University shows newborn babies do react to pain

I wish this study wasn’t true. Hopefully, it will make adjusters consider certain claims more seriously in the future, even if there is not a significant amount of medical bills.

There are just some stories that make me question the believability. I guess that’s why they call it news. This one comes from a New Jersey Family Court. (NBC10 Philadelphia)

Dressed in a Nazi uniform, Heath Campbell marched into a New Jersey courthouse to petition a Judge for the right to see his youngest son. This was the same son who was taken from him at birth. The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services said that they took the boy because of previous violence in the home.

News coverage is no stranger to Campbell. In 2008, a store refused to write the name of his son on a birthday cake. His 3-year-old, Adolf Hitler Campbell, would make the news with that story. At that time, it was also accurately reported that he had named his other children with Nazi themes: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honzlynn Jeannie Campbell.

After the news story ran about the birthday cake incident, Social Services received a tip about problems in the home. An investigation began, and ended with a judge removing the children from the Campbell home and placing them in foster care.

Now, Campbell just wants to see his son. So, he got all dressed up and headed to court for the hearing.

When the reporter asked Campbell whether he thought that his dress would influence the Judge, Campbell replied, “If they’re good judges and they’re good people, they’ll look within, not what’s on the outside”.

Campbell denies that he ever abused any of his children. He believes that he is being targeted because of his beliefs and that he is a Nazi. He added, “I’m going to tell the judge, I love my children. I wanna be a father, let me be it.”

In June 2012, a New Jersey Superior Court had denied the couple’s appeal to return the children to the Campbell home. “I’m gonna keep fightin’, I don’t care if it kills me. I love ’em.” Yep… he loves ’em.

For pic o’ day from Dennis, I guess this one goes under the category of “always working!”.

USA Today had a weekend article titled “More Money, More Problems? Why Rich Kids Hate Mom and Dad”. The premise of the article was that money is a magnifier of family tensions, in wealthy families.

Author Franco Lombardo wrote a book, with studies to support, that the rich are not happy in their family relationships. He asks why 70% of family businesses do not pass successfully to the next generation? His answer: emotional and bad issues are brewing in wealthy families.

As a wealth and financial planner, he believes that wealthy kids have problems with their parents because of three common reasons: 1. A child of wealthy parents grows up with a sense that they get whatever they want. Then, when they go out into the real world and the world tells them “No”, they are not prepared for it and resent their parents.

His second reason for the emotional turmoil is his belief that wealthy parents end up being absentee parents. So, kids feel abandoned.

Third, he says that society makes fun of rich kids. They are always faced with scorn or jealousy. According to him, kids then blame their parents for issues regarding their identity. He puts his theories and “findings” in his book titled “The Great White Elephant: Why Rich Kids Hate Their Parents”. (not so sure I agree with this)

Sometimes authors write things… just to be authors. I think that we have all heard that money doesn’t buy happiness; Even if the belief is that it is easier to be rich and unhappy, than poor and unhappy. But, for the purposes of this blog, there’s an application to personal injury law. It is the opposite of having too much. A completely different emotion.

I recently had a lady tell me that she had just lost her job. Now, she is starting to get worried because her severance pay is running out and she still has not found a job. Which is more stressful to her… Not having money or not having a job?

When I send in settlement packages to insurance adjusters, they like specific numbers to support the loss. What were the medicals and what were the loss of wages? How much did it cost to fix the car?

In the beginning of the blog, I discussed books on those that have money. Their problems come from having it. Those without, have problems that are way more than emotional. It is actual loss.

The loss of a job is a loss of money, but the worry is even greater. That is a damage in a case that can almost not be measured. For some adjuster putting some dollar amount on the loss, I suspect that they would put a greater amount if they were also facing the loss of their job.

In jury trials, the laws of evidence say that you cannot argue the golden rule. When arguing a settlement value to an adjuster, I still always hope that they will somehow place themselves in the position of appreciating the world of loss and worry.

The Environmental Law Foundation has issued a warning that there are “alarming” concentrations of lead that have been found in a variety of children’s and baby foods. The food categories include apple juice, packaged pears and peaches, and fruit cocktail.

My wife regularly buys these type of items, so when I heard about the leadwarning, I went home, pulled the products and matched them against the checklist. I will provide the list below for your quick access.

Many scientists agree that there is no safe level of exposure to lead. Here is a transcription of the NPR news story and interview, which provides more information. I am also attaching an article on why the FDA is hampered in preventing this kind of problem. The report basically says what you would expect: Limited resources and piece meal approaches in gathering information (basically government inefficiency) are the culprits.

I did title this blog “Lead in the lunch box”. I was really addressing the food that sometimes kids take to school. Then, I also saw a report on lead problems in lunch boxes ( Here), so I am attaching that story for your review, as well.

Below is the list of the food and juices that reportedly contain dangerous levels of lead. I am taking up this blog space with this long list, to make sure you can compare to any products you may consider at the grocery store or are already in your pantry or closet:

Any information herein on this website is not formal legal advice, nor the formation of an attorney client relationship. This website is designed for general information only. The Joel Bieber Firm does offer free legal consultations to help you decide if you have a claim to pursue.